Clinical Activities and Training
TB Education Resources
The Union has a large online library of TB resources in a number of languages.
TB Centers of Excellence
The CDC’s Division of Tuberculosis Elimination funds four TB Centers of Excellence for Training, Education, and Medical Consultation (TB COEs). The TB COEs are regionally assigned to cover all 50 states and the U.S. territories. The U.S. affiliated Pacific Islands (USAPI) are jointly served by all COEs.
The Curry International Tuberculosis Center (CITC) (located in San Francisco CA) creates, enhances and disseminates state-of-the-art resources and models of excellence and performs research to control and eliminate tuberculosis in the United States and internationally. Committed to the belief that everyone deserves the highest quality of care in a manner consistent with his or her culture, values and language, we develop and deliver highly versatile, culturally appropriate trainings and educational products, and provide technical assistance.
The Southeastern National Tuberculosis Center supports the education and training missions of TB programs throughout our region and provides a source of expert medical consultation for healthcare providers caring for TB patients. We serve 11 states, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. They have both fact sheets and training catalogs available.
The Global Tuberculosis Institute at Rutgers, New Jersey provides training, technical assistance, and medical consultation to healthcare professionals throughout 20 project areas in the Northeastern United States. The offer am archive of educational webinars.
Clinical Activities
Fulton County Health Department
Emory has a long-standing collaboration with the Fulton County Board of Health. Currently, Emory University Associate Professor David Holland serves as Chief Clinical Officer for the Fulton County Board of Health. Additionally, Emory-affiliated physicians frequently provide care at the Respiratory Clinic for people living with or at risk for tuberculosis.
Georgia Department of Public Health Tuberculosis program
Emory University School of Medicine faculty Susan Ray and Marcos Schechter serve as Medical Consultants for the State Tuberculosis Program. They assist with TB control activities and provide medical consultation to clinicians needing support to care for people living with or at risk for tuberculosis across the state.
Georgia State Tuberculosis Reference Guide
Emory University School of Medicine faculty Henry Blumberg, Susan Ray, and Marcos Schechter are editors of the Georgia State Tuberculosis reference guide link
Training Activities
Tuberculosis Work in Progress
The TB Work in Progress is a monthly meeting attended by Emory, CDC, Georgia State (GSU) and other local institutions TB experts. This meeting is a forum for TB faculty and students to share their research, educational, and programmatic work. Meetings are open to Emory, CDC, and GSU faculty and students with TB interest.
Emory Georgia Tuberculosis Training Program
The NIH Fogarty International Center supported “Emory-Georgia TB Research Training Program (EGTB-RTP)” is a 15-year-old collaboration between Emory University and the key public health institutions in Georgia involved in TB treatment and control. The lead Georgian institution is the National Center for Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases (NCTLD) and key collaborating Georgian institutions include the National Center for Disease Control and Public Health (NCDC), and the Georgian AIDS Center. Key goals of the EGTB-RTP include: 1) to continue to enhance the capacity at the NCTLD and NCDC to carry out implementation science research and tackle challenges imposed by recent health care reform in Georgia; 2) to build upon achievements made in the past grant cycle and leverage new opportunities for translational research given enhanced laboratory infrastructure at both the NCTLD and NCDC; 3) to build capacity for research at the intersection of TB and non-communicable diseases (NCDs) which are emerging public health problems in Georgia; and 4) expand laboratory, epidemiology and clinical/translational research on MDR- and XDR-TB. The EGTB-RTP is especially focused on supporting expansion of in-country research and research training opportunities.
Emory Ethiopia Tuberculosis Training Program
A major barrier to improved research, treatment and control of TB in Ethiopia is the scarcity of Ethiopian scientists and health professionals with the relevant research knowledge and expertise to carry out internationally recognized research. The goals of the Ethiopia-Emory TB Training Program (EETB-RTP) are: 1) To build human resource capacity and enhance the research infrastructure for robust TB-related research in Ethiopia; 2) To build relevant sustainable research capacity in Ethiopia by aligning EETB-RTP research training activities with the Ethiopian MOH priorities outlined in the “National Plan for Tuberculosis Research in Ethiopia (2017-2022)”; 3) To build research capacity by providing mentorship, leadership, and team science training; and 4) To enhance the diversity of Ethiopian investigators, with a concerted focus of increasing the number of women trained in TB research. In the first funding cycle (2013-2018) the EETB-RTP supported 21 Ethiopian trainees. Collectively, these trainees have had 71 TB-related peer review publications and 8 trainees received competitive externally funded grants as PI (totaling $815,801); in addition, 10 trainees received 14 competitive travel awards ($50,320).
Rollins School of Public Health Courses
Epidemiology of Tuberculosis (EPI 542 and GH 562)
The Epidemiology of Tuberculosis course is a joint partnership between Emory and CDC to provide training to students about tuberculosis. It is offered at the School of Public Health in the Spring semester and is cross-listed between the Epidemiology and Global Health departments (EPI 542/GH 562). The goals of the course are: to provide training in the domestic and international epidemiology of TB; its diagnosis; the theory and practice of treatment and means of prevention in developed and developing country settings; and the interaction between HIV and tuberculosis. Lectures are provided jointly by Emory and CDC faculty are actively engaged in that lecture’s area of expertise (e.g., the session on TB outbreaks is conducted by the CDC outbreak investigation and molecular epidemiology teams). The course has been continuously offered since 1995 and enjoys very positive evaluations from students each year.
Global Field Experience
The Global Field Experience (GFE) allows students to spend two monthsat an international research site with mentorship from Emory Faculty and Collaborators. The GFE students’ activities have included quality control of paper data collection forms, data entry into and cleaning of REDCap databases, specimen management, evaluation of treatment outcomes and adverse events, and day-to-day support of the project and in-country team members. The students gain a valuable field experience while also contributing significantly to these ongoing studies. The Global Field Experience Financial Award program at Rollins School of Public Health provides funding for these MPH students to support summer practicum experiences in low- and middle-income countries. Dr. Gandhi’s research group has nominated 7 students for this award over five years and has been successful in obtaining the award for all nominated individuals.